Learning How to Smile
by UofMAnne
Summary: Rosalie is left to pick up the pieces after an unexpected break-up turns her life upside down.
1. Chapter 1

I was ten minutes into my commute home when I realized that I was driving in the wrong direction. Instead of turning left on Pine, I made a right, and from there, it was almost as if my car was steering itself, operating on some sort of muscle memory of where I should be going. With a sigh, I turned into the next parking lot; my brain couldn't handle the simple task of calculating an alternate route, so I reversed my trip and took the long way home.

It had been like this for three weeks now, since the day I arrived home from vacation to find that my fiance had thoughtfully packed all of my belongings and left the boxes stacked neatly in the suddenly empty garage. I was confused, and naive. Part of me thought that this must be some elaborate surprise, that while I was gone, Royce had decided to surprise me by upgrading our townhouse to a house in the suburbs. My steps echoed through the empty house as I wandered through, looking for an explanation.

Explanation came in the form of a tersely worded letter on the kitchen counter.

Rose,

This may come as a surprise to you, but I am no longer happy. You probably think I'm a coward for leaving like this, but marrying you would be even more cowardly. I hope that one day you can accept that this is for the best. The townhouse has already sold, you'll need to be out by the 23rd. I have already made the necessary phone calls to cancel the wedding. I think you'll find that the check I have left you is more than sufficient to get you started in the next phase of your life. I wish you luck.

Respectfully,

Royce.

Paper-clipped to the letter was a check for $25,000. For some reason, it was the paper clip that angered me the most. After six years together, and only two months before our wedding, Royce had left me with seven sentences and a paperclip. Numbly, I got back into the car and wracked my brain for hotels I could stay at, potentially long term, without going broke. I had Royce's credit card in my wallet, but I would be damned if I'd use another thing from him. Rosalie Hale paid her own way, effective immediately.

Since then, I had been operating on auto-pilot. I went through the motions, but at best, my life felt like watching a TV where the color has started to go off. Everything looked the same, but wrong. In my worst moments, I felt battered. Every part of me raged against the new turn my life had taken.

I still hadn't told most people. No one at work knew; really, Royce was such a non-entity in my work social life that I doubted anyone would ask. The realization that no one would ask anything about him was both freeing and depressing. One the one hand, eight hours a day where no one casually brought him up was like a tiny pocket of relief. On the other hand, we were a close-knit group, so the fact that most of my coworkers knew nothing about Royce at all was a sad reflection on what our life together had become.

My brother knew. After three nights at a hotel, I had to start making headway on finding a place to live, and I itched to have my things out of storage. The thought of using Royce's money for anything burned like hand sanitizer on a paper cut, but the reality of it was, I had no choice. The shortened time frame I was working with, paired with the fact that he had left me nothing in the way of furniture meant that I needed to cash his check.

Once I had an apartment, I had somewhere to move the boxes, which meant that I needed Jasper. He didn't ask questions beyond "What time do you need me there?" and I was grateful. Telling Jasper the bare bones was hard enough, but it did come with benefits. Jasper would tell Alice, who would tell Bella, who would tell Edward, and that was my circle of friends taken care of. Jasper would also tell our parents, and their disappointment in me would mean that I could expect to hear from them again in about six months. As far as I was concerned, that _might_ be enough time for me to build up my defenses against their chilly disapproval.

My friends though...I knew they would be different. Alice would sparkle her way in to my new apartment, and find a way to make the bland beige walls feel like home. Her enthusiasm drew people in, and it was never forced. Bella would make her presence known by ensuring that my kitchen had food, that my cabinets were organized, and that my bedroom and bathroom were completely unpacked before everyone left.

"The most important thing," she had said to me six months ago, when we were helping Jasper and Alice move in to their new house, "is to make sure that at the end of the day, you have a place to shower off the grime, a place to sleep, and you can get to your coffee in the morning. Everything else is just a bonus."

As I pulled up to the townhouse on moving day, I saw that everyone had beaten me there. Rather than the moving truck I had assumed Jasper would rent, five cars lined the street. I had the morbid thought that we would make a funeral procession of sorts, mourning not a person, but the death of my former life. Shaking it off, I got out of the car and forced a smile. It was only as I was approaching the group that I realized I knew only four of the five people gathered in my driveway.

"Hey guys. Thanks for coming." Deciding to bite the bullet and hopefully avoid any awkwardness, I walked up to the lone stranger in the group. "Hi, I'm Rosalie. I'm going to assume the Expedition is yours." I stuck my hand out and hoped that I was putting off friendly vibes.

"I'm Emmett. I'm pretty sure the giant car is what got me an invite to this shindig," he replied, grasping my hand.

On any other day, I would have taken a moment to appreciate the man standing before me. Tall and broad-shouldered, he would have been intimidating if it weren't for the broad smile that lit up his face. I might have made a joke about how his giant muscles probably factored into his invite. I definitely would have appreciated the warmth of his hand as it enclosed my own. Even in my current state, I knew that Emmett was one of the most attractive men I'd ever met. On any other day, I would have made sure he knew it.

"Emmett is my sort of step-brother," Bella supplied, after the silence dragged on for half a beat too long. At my puzzled look, she laughed. "Renee was briefly married to his dad, about six years ago. We met once or twice, but he kept in touch with Mom even after the divorce, and when he moved out here two months ago, she passed on my information."

"Alright people! Now that we've got the introductions over with, let's get a move on!" I couldn't help but laugh at Alice's drill sergeant tone.

"Hey, how much coffee has Tiny here had?" Emmett stage-whispered to Edward as I turned to open the garage door.

"Honestly, probably none. This is pretty much Alice on her "mellow setting," Edward replied. "The upside is, if you do exactly what she tells you to do, exactly how she says to do it, she'll let you live."

"I can hear you guys, you know," Alice called over her shoulder. "And I'll have you know that my energy is all natural. As long as you consider a six shot iced espresso natural."

Beside me, Jasper groaned in exasperation. "Babe, if you don't lay off the espresso, your heart is going to explode. I'd really prefer you stay in one piece."

"Yeah, yeah, yea..." Alice trailed off as I opened the garage door, revealing a pile of boxes.

Silently, we circled the pile, trying to form the best plan of attack.

"He didn't...these boxes aren't labeled, Rose!" Bella was indignant. "I mean, really! Would a Sharpie have been that hard to come by?"

The rest of the group was stunned into silence. Bella wasn't the outburst type, and she definitely wasn't the awkward, vaguely inappropriate outburst type.

"Okay, look," I finally said. "There's no point in trying to ignore the elephant in the room. Yes, Royce left me, and yes, he did it in a way that only a complete asshole could consider reasonable. The boxes are unlabeled, and God alone knows what he deigned to leave me with, anyway."

"I'm sorry Rose, I didn't mean..."

"It's okay, Bella. I know."

"How many times am I going to have to say this today? Let's get a move on, people!" One thing was certain, Alice knew how to break tension.

There was always something sad to me about seeing a life boiled down to a stack of boxes, but in this case, I actually felt a glimmer of hope buried underneath all of my other churning emotions. As the cars filled up with boxes and the pile in the garage diminished, I started to feel lighter. Regardless of how it came about, I was going to make the most of this opportunity.

My new ground-floor apartment made unloading the boxes easy, and less than two hours after we started, everything was unloaded. I was expecting the furniture delivery guys in a couple of hours, and until then, there wasn't a whole lot that could be done.

"Thank you guys so much for all of your help today. I've got some time before the furniture guys show up; why don't we head out for some lunch, and then I can take it from here."

"Oh sure. Because we're going to leave you to drag all of these boxes into their respective rooms by yourself, Rose." I should have known better than to think that Alice was going to walk away from a blank slate.

"I agree. What if we just start opening boxes. Rose, you can tell us which room, and the boys can move it for us." Bella's initial plan may have been foiled by the unlabeled boxes, but never let it be said that the girl couldn't adapt.

The boys were pretty good-natured about the fact that we were only using them for their brawn, although I did hear some grumbling about no food. As we opened boxes and directed traffic, I started to really believe that this would be okay. Eventually, opening the boxes turned into a game, and all of us were laughing while we tried to guess where each box would go before it got opened. And then Emmett opened _the_ box.

"Okay, let's see what we've got here. Any bets?" He called out good-naturedly. He sliced open the top of the box, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw a jumble of color. Time seemed to slow to a crawl. "What'll it be, folks? Bathroom? Kitchen? Place your...oh. That..." Hastily, he folded the flaps shut. "Bedroom."

I thought I would die of embarrassment. Of course Royce would leave me that box. Of course. Just when I thought it wasn't possible to be more horrified, Bella grabbed the box and opened it up.

"God, Emmett. What could possibly be so...oh." Again, flaps were shut. "Yeah. Bedroom."

By now, everyone in the room was curious, and it wasn't like my day could get worse. "For the love of...Yes! It's a box of sex toys." I got up and snatched the box from Bella. "We're all adults here, let's just forget this happened and move on, okay?"

In the silence that followed, everyone in the room did their best to look at anything but each other. Thankfully, the sound of the buzzer broke through the room.

"That must be the furniture delivery. I'll just let them in, show them where to go," Jasper said. Before he even finished speaking, he got up and fled. Poor guy. Having concrete proof that your sister has enough sex toys to warrant their own box on moving day had to be up there on the list of things no guy wants to experience.

Once the furniture was in and set up, we were all more than ready for a change of scenery, and some food. Over the course of lunch, we managed to get back into a groove of banter and laughter. Emmett was new to the group, but he fit right in. By the time our drinks arrived, Alice had dubbed him "Muscles McGee", and Bella had extracted a promise that he would come to her house for dinner the following week. Jasper and Edward were a little harder to win over, but not much. By the time our lunch showed up, Emmett was officially invited to join their monthly poker night. It was almost like Emmett filled a hole in our group that we never knew was there. After the last of the plates were cleared from the table, we headed back to my apartment sated and happy.

Walking up to the building, Emmett hung back from the group. "Hey Bella," he called out. "I'm gonna head out."

Bella pulled away from Edward and ran up to give Emmett a hug. For sort of step-siblings who hadn't spent all that much time together, they were surprisingly comfortable around one another. "Thanks for your help today, Em. I'll call you this week about dinner. Renee will never let me live it down if you're not well-fed, you know?"

Bella pulled away and I walked up to Emmett. "Thank you so much for today. You don't even know me, and you gave up a Saturday for me." I was embarrassed to find myself choking up. "Just...thank you."

"No problem. I'll admit, I didn't have entirely selfless motives. I got to meet some great new people, and you even fed me. What more could a guy ask for?" Something about his easy smile made me want to ask him to stay. Stopping that train of thought in its tracks, I settled for a handshake.

"Regardless, I really appreciate your help. Don't be a stranger, okay?"

I was about five feet away from him when I heard him say, softly enough that I knew it wasn't meant for me to hear, "Oh, I definitely won't, Rosalie." When I turned around to look, he had already turned to walk to his car.

When I got back into the apartment, it quickly became clear that unpacking was going to be the least of my worries. Royce may have been generous when he wrote that check, but that had to be in an attempt to assuage his guilt over what he had taken. Aside from the box of toys that had caused so much embarrassment, he had left me with nothing that could have been considered "ours". No dishes, no sheets, no blankets, nothing. After an hour, it was obvious that a shopping trip was in order.

Alice and Jasper had promised to watch her sister's little boy for the evening, so they regretfully bowed out, although not before Alice promised that the next weekend, we'd go out to find some accent pieces to warm up the apartment. Edward probably would have begrudgingly gone shopping, but Bella waved him off with a laugh.

"And then, there were two," Bella joked as we got into her car and headed to Bed Bath & Beyond. She had offered to drive, ostensibly because her car had more trunk space than mine, but I suspected that she knew I was too unfocused to be trusted behind the wheel. I couldn't say that I blamed her.

"Who does that? Who leaves their fiancee, and takes all of the basic necessities of life when they go? Would it have fucking killed him to leave me a goddamned towel?" I was seething. It didn't escape my notice that I was angrier over the loss of my towels than I was over the loss of the man I was planning to marry, but I decided to examine that later. "All of that time I spent picking out the perfect dishes, the perfect _everything_, wasted!"

Pulling into a spot, Bella put the car in park and looked at me, seriousness written all over her face. "Do you know where he went? Wanna egg his car? Slash his tires? We could re-enact a bad country song or two, maybe pour pool shock all over his new lawn to kill the grass. You say the word and I'm there. No one else has to know."

The set of her shoulders and her tone of voice told me that Bella wasn't kidding. I couldn't help but laugh. "Thanks, but no. I don't know where he is, and anyway, we can't just vandalize his property. Edward would kill me if he had to come bail us out."

"Come on, Rose. My dad's the chief of police. No one is going to arrest me. Hell, if we call him, he'll probably give us a ride. In fact, I'm almost positive he'd be willing to loan us a firearm or two. Not that he'd condone _shooting _anyone, but God knows, Charlie is not above scaring the shit out of people when the situation calls for it. If you change your mind, let me know." With that, she got out of the car and stared at me expectantly, like she hadn't just suggested we pull the chief of police into a revenge scheme that involved breaking several laws. "Well? Let's go. We've got goddamned towels to buy!"

And just like that, some of the pieces of my heart shifted back in to place. Truth be told, if Royce was willing to be this cruel, then losing him wasn't really a loss after all. I'd use his money to buy myself all new things. I wouldn't have to spend a single second of my time worrying about if what I picked out was perfect enough to fit in with Royce's vision of what a home should look like. I had friends who loved me enough to commit crimes on my behalf. What more could a girl ask for?

Squaring my shoulders, I stepped out of the car and linked arms with Bella. "Let's do this thing. Don't let me forget wine glasses-we are definitely stopping at the liquor store on the way back."

"Now you're talking."

**A/N: **This story was inspired by a prompt that **TheHeartofLife **gave me one night while she was trying to talk me into writing Rosalie. I hope I can do it justice. **AccioBourbon **holds my hand, doles out sage life advice, and makes sure that what I write wouldn't make my former English teachers weep. **AthenaJean** holds my other hand, fills in the gaps when I leave out words, and is basically the other half of my soul. **Accio** and **Athena** are the best two betas a girl could ask for, and I'm lucky to call them friends. Any mistakes left are all me.


	2. Chapter 2

Over the next few weeks, my "new" routine slowly morphed into just my routine. I had my low moments, usually when I went to grab something and realized too late that the blanket/candle/bowl I was looking for wasn't mine anymore. The first breakdown had been the most memorable; the morning after moving day, I realized that although Bella and I had bought a coffee pot, we had failed to buy coffee cups. Really, who needs to buy coffee cups? Coffee cups are like Q-tips; no one ever makes a conscious decision to buy them, they're just there. Except when I opened my cupboard, there were no coffee cups there. I opened every cupboard I had, including the ones in the bathroom, before I finally accepted that I had no coffee cups. Then I sat in the middle of my kitchen floor and cried. After ten minutes of sobbing and snotting and "Why me, God? What did I do to deserve this?" I got up and brainstormed. Going out for coffee wasn't an option since my temper tantrum had rendered me splotchy and swollen, so I had to get creative. A pint glass isn't the ideal vessel for hot coffee, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

The first week was filled with moments like that. Then, so gradually that I almost didn't notice it, things started to get better. By the end of my first month in the apartment, I could reliably make it through an entire day without tears. The nights were a little bit harder, but after a week of crying my way through Must-See TV, I realized that I was feeling sorry for myself, not missing Royce. Of course, that knowledge didn't stop me from feeling sorry for myself, but knowing is half the battle.

Of course, Alice and Bella did their best to keep my self-pity at bay. Between the two of them, they managed to keep me occupied without smothering me. Since both Edward and Jasper refused to watch Glee, Tuesday nights became "girls' night" at my place. A bottle (okay, two bottles) of wine, takeout, and a sing-along were a surefire recipe to keep the sadness tamped down. As the weeks passed, I realized that my life was rebuilding itself. I had missed the easy camaraderie I shared with my friends, even if I only figured that out in retrospect. It was obvious to me that the distance that had crept into my relationships over the past couple of years was my own doing. How had I let myself get so wrapped up in Royce?

My cell phone ringing jerked me out of my reverie. "Hello?" I answered, still half in my own thoughts.

"Rose? It's Bella. I'm so sorry to do this. I have to cancel on tonight." Bella's anxiety was obvious, even through the phone. That was the thing about Bella. In a crisis, she was nearly unflappable, but she could come undone at just the idea of having to let someone down.

"Hey, no worries. I can definitely take a rain check. Is everything okay?"

"Oh, it's fine. Just...ugh. Edward. He invited Emmett over for dinner tonight without running it by me first. Which is fine, except apparently, they can't have dinner together unless I'm here. I would make him call Emmett and reschedule, but he gave me the sad eyes. Plus, I feel like I've been neglecting my sort-of sister duties, so..." Bella trailed off on a sigh.

"Like I said, no worries. I feel bad, actually. You wouldn't be neglecting Emmett if you weren't spending all of your time-"

"Hey! Don't even go there, woman." Bella cut me off before I could really get started. "You are my friend, and I've really enjoyed getting to spend more time with you lately, okay? And have you _seen_ Emmett? Trust me, the man feeds himself just fine."

"Okay, you've got me there. He did seem...well-fed." I pushed down the last of my guilt. "I know I probably don't say it much, but I really have had a lot of fun with you the past few weeks. It's been almost like old times."

Bella and I had met when we were living in the same dorm our freshman year. We weren't roommates, but we both spent a lot of time in our floor's common room. We bonded over our shared love of late night infomercials on the nights that our roommates monopolized our rooms. By the time midterms rolled around, we were plotting ways to foist our roommates off on each other. We returned from winter break victorious, and a beautiful friendship was born.

"You know what? You should come."

"What? No! It's a family dinner!"

"All the more reason for you to be there!" The emphatic tone Bella used made it clear that there was no way I was getting out of this. "And since your plans were with me and I just bailed on you, I _know_ you don't have a scheduling conflict. We'll see you at six."

"But-" I was cut off by dead air. "Okay then," I muttered to myself. "I guess that settles that."

**~0~**

Taking a steadying breath, I grabbed the bottle of wine I'd picked up and got out of the car. There was no reason for me to be this uneasy-I'd been to dinner at Bella and Edward's hundreds of times. Tonight was no different. So what if I had taken a little extra time getting ready? I told myself it was because I wanted to show everyone that I wasn't a sad, broken mess. Nothing wrong with that.

Alice and Bella would have a field day teasing me about getting all dolled up for a handsome man. Luckily, Alice and Jasper were away for the weekend, so I only had Bella to contend with. I was pretty sure she'd let it slide tonight, if only out of respect for my newly single status. For once, I was grateful that I'd be treated with kid gloves. While I waited for someone to answer the front door, I mused that being more than happy to use my heartbreak as an excuse to get out of teasing must be a sure sign that I was on the mend.

Edward answered the door with a sheepish grin. "Rose, hey. Come on in. Sorry I ruined your plans for the night."

"Don't worry about it. I have a feeling dinner here will be better than whatever takeout we managed to scrounge up. And movie night is always better when we can just get you to get up and refill the popcorn." I answered with a smirk.

Edward wrapped an arm around my shoulder as he led me into the kitchen. For just a second, I felt myself slipping down the slope of self-pity. I _missed_ this, missed the comforting weight of someone else's arm pulling me close, leading me. We arrived in the kitchen and Edward gave me a squeeze, and a kiss on the temple. "I'm glad you came," he said in a low voice. "I'm going to go check the grill, make sure the tank is full, and perform other miscellaneous manly duties," he announced, easily sidestepping the towel Bella snapped in his direction.

"I swear, I told him to do that this morning," Bella said with a roll of her eyes. "I'm pretty sure he just wants to look like he knows what he's doing when Emmett shows up."

I laughed. "I can see how Emmett might have that effect on people."

"Speaking of, don't think I didn't catch that. Or your 'well-fed' comment earlier today. Or the fact that you're dressed just a notch above normal "dinner at home" levels. Anything you want to tell me?"

"God! No! I'm dressed normally, Bella. We can't all live in a uniform of sweat pants and tank tops, okay?" My words came out harsher than intended, and I was surprised to feel a spark of actual anger.

"Whoa there, Touchy McAnger. First of all, they are yoga pants. Second of all, I was teasing you. You remember teasing, right?"

The sound of booming laughter from the backyard cut through the sudden tension in the room. "Sounds like Emmett's here," Bella said softly.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what I was thinking."

"I pushed, and I shouldn't have. It's dropped. We're good, Rose. I'm going to take the food out to Edward. Wanna pour us some wine and bring it out?"

"I can do that," I answered with a smile. Bella slipped out onto the deck, and I rummaged through the silverware drawer, looking for a corkscrew. I sighed when I realized all they had was a waiter's corkscrew; for some reason I never could work one of those with any reliability. Maybe today would be my lucky day.

Or not, I soon had to admit to myself. There was a muted chuckle from behind me and I spun around, expecting to see Edward standing there. My mind barely had time to register that Edward was _definitely_ not who was standing behind me before Emmett spoke. "Need any help with that?" he asked, his hand already outstretched.

"What?"

"The wine. Can I help you with that? Waiter's corkscrews can be a bitch."

"Oh. Yes. Please. I don't know why, but I can never get these to work for me." I handed the bottle over. "I really need to make a mental note to bring wine with screw-tops when I come over. It would save a lot of frustration." I turned to grab wine glasses out of the cupboard and before I could turn back, I felt a solid warmth on my left. As quickly as it appeared, it was gone, the now-open bottle of wine sitting on the counter. A glance over my shoulder verified that Emmett was still there, leaning against the counter. "Thanks. Can I interest you in a glass? Get you a beer?"

"A beer would be great, and maybe you could point me in the direction of the spice cabinet? I'm supposed to grab something called Tony's for Edward. Oh, and hi. I probably should have opened with that." Just like the last time I saw him, Emmett's smile drew me in and put me at ease. And his dimples. I must have been too deep in the moving and heartbreak haze to notice them last time, but my God. If anyone ever asked me, I would swear under oath that it was impossible to see that smile and not smile back.

"Spices are over there," I answered, pointing to a cabinet over the stove. "And Tony's will change your life. Import or domestic?"

"What?" Now it was Emmett's turn to be confused.

"Your beer. They've got Miller Lite, Heineken, Summer Shandy, and some pretentious German beer that I refuse to embarrass myself by trying to pronounce."

"Beer can be pretentious?" His voice was way closer than I was expecting, and I jumped. A warm hand on my back steadied me. "Hey, I didn't mean to scare you. I'm sorry." He backed away, giving me space.

"Hey now, don't look so sad. I scare easily. Really." I offered up a shaky smile as proof that it wasn't him that made me jumpy. The last thing I wanted was to make the night awkward. "Now, name your beer before Edward comes in here and gives me hell for leaving the fridge open for so long."

"I'll take my chances with the pretentious German, thanks. And what's so special about this Tony's, anyway? Looks like seasoning to me."

"Bite your tongue, sir," I said as I handed him a beer. "Tony's is not just seasoning. It's a way of life. The jar doesn't lie; you really can put it on anything. We like to joke that it's the only good thing Bella ever got from her college boyfriend."

"It was the _only_ thing he ever gave me, aside from mono," Bella laughed from the doorway. "Were you two planning to join us out here, or should we move back inside?"

"On our way," I answered, grabbing the wine and glasses on my way to the door. "Emmett might take awhile. He picked the pretentious beer; no telling how long it'll take for him to figure out how to open it."

"It's about time someone drank that. It's been in the fridge since Christmas." Bella laughed. "Hey Emmett, if you figure it out, let Edward know, okay? I'm pretty sure he still has it because he can't get it open."

Emmett was on our heels as we walked across the patio, his beer already open and in a glass. "What is it with you people not being able to open your alcohol? You guys need me."

"What are you, some sort of alcohol sensei?" Edward asked indignantly. I didn't think he would ever admit it out loud, but the fact that he couldn't get that beer open had to be a source of embarrassment for him. Why he hadn't just thrown the offending beer out months ago was a mystery to all of us. Instead, it sat in the fridge, mocking him. Bella had recently confessed to me that she actually liked the fact that Edward couldn't open the beer. It served as a handy reminder to her that he wasn't perfect.

"I was a bartender in college, and for a little while after I graduated. It taught me important life skills. No beer is too pretentious for me." Emmett's answer seemed to pacify Edward, while Bella snickered quietly in the background.

**~0~**

After dinner, we lingered in the backyard. The early summer evening was mild, and we were content to just _be_. It occurred to me that it had been awhile since I had let myself relax and enjoy the moment.

"Penny for your thoughts," Bella said, interrupting my reverie.

"I was just thinking how long it's been since I've let myself just...be in the moment. You know? It always feels like whatever I'm doing, my mind has already moved on to the next thing on the list. When did life become a to-do list?"

"Do we need to take away the wine, Rosie?"

"I'm serious! Not in a sad way, but really? When did I stop sitting on decks and watching fireflies?"

Bella looked at me dubiously, and I realized that after four glasses of wine, she might be too snarky to have this conversation.

"No, no, no. I know what you mean. I do. So let's make a vow; this summer, we will learn to unclench." Bella held out her left hand, pinkie outstretched. I mirrored her, and we linked pinkies in the most sacred of all actions: The Pinkie Swear. When Edward and Emmett returned from the kitchen, we were doubled over in our chairs laughing.

Edward barely spared us a glance as he sat down, still talking to Emmett about whatever it is boys talk about when left to their own devices. Emmett stood in front of us, mouth agape; the sight of him so baffled only made us laugh harder. Finally, he looked to Edward for help.

"Should we be concerned?"

"Nah. This is Bella and Rosalie after four or five glasses of wine. Who knows what set them off. They'll be fine. Best thing to do is wait it out."

Gasping for air, I pointed at Bella accusingly. "It's her fault! She made me pinkie swear!" I fought back a return of the giggles. The men needed to know how serious this was.

"What?" Bella managed to look affronted, even as she was choking back laughter. "You started it! There's nothing laughable about a pinkie swear!"

It was a testament to how well six years with us had trained Edward, because he didn't miss a beat. "A pinkie swear? That's hardcore. What's the vow, ladies?" Leaning toward Emmett, he muttered, "This is going to be good. They only pinkie swear when they really mean it."

"Hey! I heard that! But, in the spirit of the vow, I am going to let it slide." I beamed at everyone, proud of my benevolence. "Our vow is that this is the summer when we will...shit...Bella...what was it? You said it so good!"

"Unclench! We're going to unclench! It's a plan. I mean, it's not really a plan, because we don't have lists..." Bella trailed off, suddenly distracted by the lack of plan.

"Babe?" Edward broke in gently, a wry smile on his face. "I'm pretty sure making a list would defeat the purpose of unclenching."

Emmett sat back in his chair, his eyes darting between the three of us like he wasn't sure if he should join in the joke, or discreetly make a few calls to have us committed. "What's the matter, buddy?" I teased. "Haven't you ever done a pinkie swear?"

"I can't say that I have. I don't know if you noticed or not, but I'm a man."

"Oh, I noticed." _Oh shit_, I thought. _I said that out loud._

Bella must have picked up on my sudden nose-dive into Awkwardville, and she jumped in to rescue me. "Okay, I think we should probably work on sobering up. How about Rose and I go finish cleaning up, and you guys start a fire in the fire pit."

Emmett held my gaze while he answered Bella. "You've got a deal, but only on one condition."

"We have conditions?" Edward asked, sounding confused. It had probably never occurred to him that he could make demands while also avoiding doing the dishes. I had a feeling that this was only the first of many Emmett-inspired revelations to come.

"You have conditions?" Bella repeated incredulously. "Because from where I'm standing, the alternative is that you guys do the dishes, and Rose and I will play with fire. I'm half in the bag, and I still think that sounds like a bad plan."

"We have conditions." Emmett sounded awfully confident, and I was getting tired of standing around in limbo while the three of them played out the modern day version of "Who's on First?"

"We're not getting any younger, guys. Name the damn conditions so we can get a move on, please!" I swear, these people needed me. Without me, nothing would get done.

"Hot chocolate," Emmett answered definitively. "We'll start a fire, but our condition is hot chocolate."

"You're a genius." It might have been the beer talking, but Edward was looking at Emmett adoringly. Who knew Edward had such a jones for hot chocolate?

"Hot chocolate, yeah, fine, okay, we got it," I said. "There had better be fire in that pit when we get back, gentlemen." I dragged Bella into the house behind me.

Five minutes into washing the dishes, Bella looked at me solemnly. "Rose, promise you won't get mad when I ask you this, okay?"

"Oh, this can't end well, but okay."

"What's going on with you and Emmett?"

"You can't be serious, Bella. I've known the guy for a cumulative total of like, seven hours. Nothing is 'going on' with us. He's a nice guy. We're making conversation." I wasn't sure what was putting my back up about this, the fact that Bella asked the question, or the niggling feeling in the pit of my stomach that she was right.

"I'm just saying that...there's something there. As someone who knows you really well, I have to tell you this. I have never seen you come alive like you did tonight with anyone else."

"Bella, Royce left me three months ago. I'm not exactly on the market. And if I was? I'd be in the clearance section, with the day-old bread and the about-to-expire baked goods."

"Okay, first of all, that's a horrible comparison. Second of all, the best cake I ever bought at a grocery store was in the clearance section. The discount baked goods section has hidden gems. And finally, I didn't say the two of you were headed into the romance of the century; I said there was _something_ there. Just keep an open mind, okay?"

"Fine. But I think you're crazy."

**~0~**

An hour and a half later the fire pit was down to its last embers, and the hot chocolate was gone. The sounds of children playing in neighboring yards had faded, and a peaceful quiet had settled over us. I didn't want to break the spell, but I knew that if I didn't leave soon I'd wind up sleeping on the couch. When Bella yawned and snuggled deeper into Edward's side, I had my opening.

"And on that note, I think it's time for me to head home." I stood and started gathering up our mugs. Bella started to get up, but Emmett stopped her.

"Sit, you. We've got this." Grabbing two of the cups, he motioned for me to lead the way.

Once in the kitchen, I busied myself with rinsing out cups. Emmett surprised me by loading them into the dishwasher as I finished rinsing. From the window over the sink, I could see Edward and Bella finishing up the backyard cleanup. I felt a spark of jealousy at the ease of their teamwork, but quickly tamped it down. Royce and I had never been a team, not like that.

Turning off the water, I turned towards Emmett. "So..." I began, trailing off when I realized I had no idea what to say. "Thanks for the help with the dishes."

Something passed across his face that I couldn't quite read, but whatever it was, he covered it quickly. "No problem. My mom was a big believer in 'many hands make light work' so I'm a pro at dishwasher loading." His smile was genuine and warm, and it made me feel like I was part of a team, too. I realized how close we were standing, but I couldn't find it in myself to take a step back.

"Your mom sounds like a smart lady," I finally answered, giving him a smile of my own. The air suddenly felt heavy with what we weren't saying. Before either one of us could say anything else, Edward and Bella came into the house, laughing.

Bella went to the fridge and pulled out containers of leftovers I didn't remember her putting together in the first place. "Emeril over there still hasn't learned how to cook enough food without cooking too much food," she said by way of explanation. Handing Emmett a bag, she continued. "I can only imagine what your fridge looks like, and we've got dinner with Edward's parents tomorrow night. This should ensure that you eat something that didn't get delivered or passed through a window, at least until Monday. Do you need reheating instructions?"

"I'm pretty sure I can handle the microwave, Bella." Emmett teased. "Not that I'm going to turn down excellent leftovers, but you do realize that I've been feeding myself for quite awhile now, right?" Everyone laughed, and Bella blushed.

"Hey, what about me? Don't I get leftovers?" I was only half-joking. Bella's potato salad was my favorite vice, and she insisted that it was a summertime only food. I've been known to fight people for the last serving; Jasper swears he still has fork marks on the back of his hand from a party in 2008. It was his own fault, really. We grew up together, he should have known better than to get between me and potato salad.

"As if I would forget you, my little potato salad fiend." Bella handed me a Tupperware container, with a knowing grin. "Try not to eat it all in one sitting, okay?"

As Emmett and I made our way to our cars, I realized I had left my cell phone sitting on the kitchen island. "Shit!" I said, trying to juggle the potato salad and my car keys. "Left my phone."

"I'll get it." Emmett was having an easier time than me, since Bella had been thoughtful enough to give him a bag. He was jogging back up the front walk before I could protest, so I set my things down in the car while I waited for him to return. I toyed with the idea of buckling the potato salad in, but decided that such an act might be overkill.

"Here you go," Emmett said, handing me the phone. "It was nice seeing you again, Rose." There was that smile again.

"You too. We'll have to convince them to cook for us again. Have a good weekend, Emmett."

"You too, Rose." He waited until I was in my car before heading to his own, parked on the street. I waved to Bella as I backed out of the driveway.

The drive home was quick at this time of night, the roads nearly empty. I opened the sunroof and turned the radio up loud, singing along with "Saturday Night 90s" on the local alternative station. For the first time in months, I felt light, unburdened.

As I unlocked the door to my quiet apartment, my phone chimed. It was probably a text from Bella, who always wanted to know that everyone got home safely. Rolling my eyes, I unlocked the screen.

_Sweet dreams, Rosalie -Emmett_

It had been a long time since I went to bed with a smile on my face, but that night, I did.

**A/N:** As always, endless thanks to **AccioBourbon** and **AthenaJean**, who make sure that my words are pretty enough. Any mistakes or rogue commas are mine. Thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, and alerted-you guys give me the warm fuzzies.


	3. Chapter 3

By the time the 4th of July rolled around, I was finally able to say that I had left my old life behind. For the first time in a long time, I spent my free hours in shorts and tank tops, my hair pulled back in a sloppy pony tail. I embraced Bella's demand that we all take a step back and "unclench" a little, and I couldn't remember a time when I'd been happier.

For the holiday weekend, we all decided to escape the city and head out to Edward's parents' lake cabin. When Bella first suggested it, my brain conjured up scary images of a shadowy cabin in the woods, spiders and snakes lurking in corners.

"Come on, Rose," Bella had laughed when I admitted my fears. "Esme goes there! Do you really think she'd be okay with spending two weeks every summer battling wildlife?"

Bella may have had a point, but I still wasn't sure that a weekend in the wilderness was my kind of scene.

"Rose, I swear, there's nothing to be afraid of." Edward was better at hiding his amusement than Bella, but not much. "Besides, Jasper and I will be there. I promise that we'll take care of any creepy crawlies that dare attempt to get near our girls."

I eyed Edward suspiciously, but kept my mouth shut. As much as Bella and I liked to tease Edward, I tended to let Bella take the lead; Edward could be oddly sensitive about some things, and I wasn't a big fan of inadvertently tripping his emotional landmines.

"Edward?" Bella asked, a hint of playfulness in her tone. "Remember last week when that chipmunk ran into the kitchen? Do you really think you should be offering up your services as our protector from all things wild?"

Edward managed to look offended under his blush. "I thought we agreed not to talk about that anymore, Bella," he answered coolly. "Besides, that's an unfair example. He took me by surprise. I'm prepared for the wildlife at the cabin."

"It's okay, honey," Bella patted his knee. "I'm sure lots of people are afraid of small furry creatures. It's nothing to be ashamed of."

"Alright, alright! I give up! I'll go."

**~0~**

I finally pulled up at the cabin, two hours later than I had planned. My "just an hour to tie up loose ends" at work had turned into half a day, and my boss had asked me to run a box of supplies to a medical clinic on my way out of town. Traffic getting out of town was a nightmare, and once traffic cleared up, the state troopers were out in force. I was far enough from home that knowing Chief Swan wouldn't do me any good, and my fondness for men in uniform didn't extend to the ones who had the ability to write tickets.

By the time I reached the cabin, I was too preoccupied with getting out of my work clothes to pay much attention to the cars gathered out front. I let myself in the front door, leaving most of my bags in the trunk for later. After a quick change in the bathroom, I was officially ready to start relaxing. The sound of laughter drew me through the spacious cabin, out to the back porch. Jasper and Alice were playing Bella and Edward in what sounded like a highly competitive game of bags.

"C'mon, Alice! Show them who's the boss. Sink it!" Jasper encouraged. Alice let her bag fly, and Edward jumped out of the way as it missed the mark completely.

"Ooooh. Close call, Gidget, but I believe that was a miss. Drink!" Bella heckled Alice, and I realized that my friends had definitely gotten a head start on the celebrating; this wasn't bags, this was Drunky Bags.

Stepping off the porch, I scanned the area for the cooler I knew had to be nearby. "I can't believe you dickbags started without me," I called out. "Some friends you are." Bella and Alice turned to look at me guiltily, but Jasper and Edward just shrugged.

"Not our fault you took too long, Pokey," Jasper retorted. "Somehow I don't think you'll have a problem catching up."

"She'd better not; we're playing the winners."

At the familiar, yet unexpected sound of Emmett's voice, I spun around. He was lounging on the porch swing, a beer dangling from his right hand. Not only had I not noticed his car parked out front, I had walked right past him.

"Emmett! What are you doing here?"

"And hello to you too, fair Rosalie. A pleasure, as always." Emmett saluted me with his beer and took a long pull from the bottle.

"Sorry. I just didn't know you were coming," I said as I headed towards the swing. "Bella must not have mentioned it." I don't know why I was surprised. Emmett had been around more often than not this summer, fitting in with the rest of us like he had always belonged. "Are you going to share that swing, or should I find another seat?"

"I can always find a way to make room for a pretty girl," he said with a smile.

I sat down, and we watched our friends make fools out of themselves in a companionable silence. The light breeze paired with the gentle sway of the swing helped to melt away all of the residual tension from my day.

"Yo! Hale, McCarty-you're up!" Jasper called out from the yard. "And you'd better bring your A game, because we are on FIRE!"

I rolled my eyes as I got up. Most people who met Jasper thought he was a sweet, laid back guy with endless patience. And he was, really. He was also the most competitive person I'd ever met, and I could tell that this weekend was shaping up to be the Summer Olympics of backyard games for Jasper.

I turned back to look at Emmett. "You heard the man, let's go! You're not going to embarrass me out there, are you?" My own competitive nature really came out to play when Jasper was involved. Already I could feel that old sibling rivalry pushing to the forefront.

"Girlfriend, please. We've got this one wrapped up. I don't want to brag, but I am a master at the sport of bags." Emmett detoured to the cooler and snagged two more beers, handing me one after he jogged over to the field of play.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Less talking, more throwing!" Alice, ever the diplomat, yelled. "Rose, you're over here."

Jasper and I shit-talked each other the way only siblings can, but Alice and Emmett still managed to get a few zingers in, themselves. Edward and Bella had slipped back into the cabin to get a head start on dinner, and we were down to the tie-breaking toss.

"Come on, baby! Land this one and we win!" Jasper encouraged from his side of the yard. Alice fixed the board with a look of pure determination, and wound up to make her throw.

"Yeah, Li'l Bit. Prove that there's more than just talk to your game!" Emmett taunted.

"Throw the bag already, Alice!" I laughed. "I'd like to get my victory dance on while we've still got some light, so Jasper doesn't miss any of my moves." I smirked at my brother across the field.

Alice threw her bag, and it landed on the board without going in the hole. She blew Jasper a kiss, stuck her tongue out at Emmett, and gave me the finger, all while doing a victory dance of her own.

"Not so fast, Tiny Terror," Emmett chastised. "Rose still gets a turn. Show us what you're made of, Miss Hale."

Blocking out everyone's cheers, I lined up my shot. As soon as I felt the bag leave my hand, I squeezed my eyes shut-there was no way I could watch and see how I did. Only when I heard Emmett's whoop of joy mixed with Jasper's groan did I re-open them. I had done it, my bag landed in the hole, garnering my team three points, and the winning score.

"Ha!" I shouted. "Suck it, Jazzy. Face it, I'm prettier than you, I'm smarter than you, and I'm better than you."

"Rematch!"

"No way, brother dear. We won fair and square." Laughing, I broke into my victory dance, and finished it off with a victory lap around Jasper. Immature? Maybe so, but it was awfully fun.

"Alright, enough pouting, Jasper. Get over here and help with the grill, before Bella blows us up!" Edward shouted from the porch. For some reason, Bella had recently gotten it into her head that she needed to master the art of lighting a charcoal grill. None of us knew why; they had a gas grill at the house, and Bella had long ago declared grilling Edward's responsibility.

I headed into the house to grab my keys and go get my bags out of the car, but Emmett snuck up behind me and snatched the keys out of my hand.

"I got it. The champion should have a seat, take a load off." He handed me a beer, and gave me one of his heart-stopper smiles. "Why don't you go save the swing for us?"

"Who am I to argue with a man who wants to carry my bags?" I joked as I headed back outside.

By the time Emmett re-joined the group, Jasper and Edward had talked Bella away from the grill, and Alice was trying to weave a necklace out of flowers. Emmett gave me a look I couldn't quite read before he sat down next to me.

"What?" I asked him. "If this is about the number of bags I brought, I don't want to hear it, pal. I packed for every contingency."

"Which," Edward broke in, "means that there's a strong possibility there's at least one pair of heels in those bags. You know, just in case a fashion show breaks out unexpectedly."

"Watch it, Cullen, or I'll pluck your eyebrows in your sleep," I retorted.

Emmett still looked a little perturbed, and it was starting to wear away at my relaxed mood.

"Seriously McCarty, what's up with you?" I half-whispered.

Emmett grimaced a little before he finally spoke. "Rose, I don't want to sound judgemental or anything, but why the fuck do you have 500 condoms in the trunk of your car?"

"What?" I screeched, as four faces turned to look at us in shock.

"Forget I said anything," Emmett answered, seemingly embarrassed by the sudden attention.

"Oh, this I have got to see," Jasper said, gleefully. Somehow I knew I would never, ever live this down.

Three minutes later, the six of us were gathered around the trunk of my car.

"That...that's a lot of condoms, Rose," Bella said, a hint of awe in her voice.

"I didn't even know they made generic condoms," Alice added.

"Damn, Rosie," Edward said, sounding more than a little impressed. "Did you take a job at The Bunny Ranch and forget to tell us?" Bella slapped his shoulder, while Alice and Emmett snickered quietly.

Jasper looked a little sick to his stomach. Apparently the only thing more horrifying than being made aware of your sister's box of sex toys is seeing her trunk full of condoms.

"They must have been part of the package of donations for the clinic I dropped off earlier today. Aaron loaded it up for me. I was in such a hurry to drop off the package that I didn't notice they had fallen out of the box." I knew as I said it that any explanation I offered would be met with disbelief, but I had to at least try.

There was a beat of silence as everyone stared at the bounty of prophylactics scattered across my trunk. If I hadn't been so mortified, I would have cracked a joke.

Finally, Emmett broke the silence.

"Man, Bella. You didn't tell me it was going to be _that_ kind of weekend getaway when you invited me."

**~0~**

Sunday night after an early dinner, I grabbed a book and headed for the swing on the back porch. There was just enough daylight left for me to get a few chapters read. Bella had gone to take a nap, and Alice had dragged Jasper off to the lake for a "sunset swim." Knowing Alice, none of us wanted to be within earshot of the two of them. Edward and Emmett had taken off for the woods to gather firewood for the bonfire we had planned later that evening, leaving me to enjoy an unexpected patch of solitude. A year ago, I would have bristled at being the odd woman out; now, I was grateful for a chance to spend an hour reading.

"You know, reading in poor light is bad for your eyesight."

I jumped a little, making the swing rock suddenly. "I didn't realize how dark it had gotten," I replied, not quite able to hide the quaver in my voice. "Where is everyone?" I looked past Emmett and saw a pile of firewood next to the fire pit, but no Edward in sight.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. Anyway, Edward went to check on Bella. Alice and Jasper are inside 'washing the lake funk off', whatever that means." This he said with a grimace and I couldn't help but laugh.

"With those two, I've decided that the less I know, the happier I am," I admitted. "So, since I have you all to myself, there's something I've been meaning to ask you."

"Ask away. I have no secrets."

"Did you really think you were going to get away with stealing my phone number under the guise of doing me a favor without getting called out on it?" I raised an eyebrow at him. I had wondered ever since that first text what he was thinking when he did it. He almost never used my number; every so often I would get a random text from him, but never anything substantial, and never a phone call.

"I...well...I mean...I didn't..." Emmett stammered, suddenly very interested in a tree off in the distance. "I know, I should have just asked you for it. You just...I didn't want to freak you out or...I don't know. It seemed like a good idea at the time?" Looking me in the eye, he took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Rose. Really."

"Oh shit! My bitch-face must still be all out of whack. Stop looking at me like I'm going to throw something at you, Emmett. It's fine! I'm not mad, I just wanted to give you a hard time." I actually felt a little bad for making him uncomfortable. At the same time, his embarrassed face was kind of adorable. I was torn between wanting to pinch his cheeks and wanting to apologize. I settled for punching his shoulder lightly. "I'm mostly just a little surprised, to be honest. I can only imagine what you must have thought about me. I was kind of a mess the first few times we met."

Emmett visibly relaxed as my words sank in. "Everyone's entitled to be a mess now and then. The first non-shallow thought I had about you was 'Damn, this is one tough lady,' and that was before you opened your mouth. You need to give yourself a little more credit."

"First non-shallow thought?" I questioned. "Okay, Mr. 'I have no secrets,' spill it."

"No way. Not gonna happen. I think you've had enough entertainment at my expense tonight, thank you very much."

"I'll make you a deal. For every question you answer, you get to ask one." I offered up. "A little _quid pro quo_, if you will."

"Alright, deal. But I think we're going to need refreshments for this." Ducking back into the cabin, he called over his shoulder, "Be right back."

He returned with four beers and took a seat across from me. Raising his bottle in a toast, he smiled. "The first thought I had when I saw you was 'Fucking hell. Bella didn't tell me her friend was hot.' I mean, come on. I have to believe that 'Damn. She's hot.' is the first thing most people think when they see you. Shallow, but true."

"Fair enough," I replied. "And thank you. I believe I owe you a question. Hit me with it, big guy."

"Who was your best kiss ever?" Emmett asked, a playful grin spreading across his face.

"Peter Hansen, senior year. No contest. Do me a favor and keep that to yourself, though. He was Jasper's best friend, and I'm almost positive that's one secret I've managed to keep from my dear brother all these years."

"Duly noted. Your turn."

For the next forty-five minutes, we traded questions back and forth, bartering information like currency. In exchange for learning his biggest fear (a tie between centipedes and heights), I admitted my biggest regret (not taking a study abroad opportunity my junior year in college). He told me that he cried during _Finding Nemo_; I confessed that I would rather walk five blocks in the rain than attempt to parallel park my car. As the sun dipped lower in the sky, our questions got more personal. When there was only a sliver of daylight left over the lake, Emmett asked the question I had suspected was coming all along.

"What happened with your ex?"

Suddenly, I understood what was so interesting about those trees Emmett had been checking out earlier. "Oh, I'm sure you've already got the gist of it from everyone else." I tried to be flip about it, but I couldn't quite control the hitch in my breath.

"The gist that I got was that he was an asshole. All Bella told me was that I should ask you if I wanted to know. You don't have to answer."

"No, you know what? I do have to answer. I should be able to answer." Taking a deep breath, I continued. "We met in college. Well, I was in college. He was a couple of years older, already graduated, starting his career. I remember being really impressed by that. Looking back, I'm pretty sure our whole relationship was based on shallow thoughts. He was sophisticated, I was pretty. I was enthralled with the idea that this older guy wanted me by his side. He was happy to have a trophy on his arm, one smart enough to take home to his parents, but not so smart that I'd ever show him up, you know?" I paused to look up at Emmett. He was watching me closely, but didn't say anything, so I kept going.

"We just fell into a routine. I guess we were happy, at first. After about a year though, our relationship looked more like a business arrangement than anything else. I fit the image he was going for, and on paper, he was the perfect guy. In reality, neither one of us was happy, but we were both too far into the relationship to back out gracefully. The way he ended it was cruel, but in a lot of ways, it was a mercy killing."

Emmett looked like he was ready to speak, but before he could open his mouth, a flurry of activity burst through the door. Shooting me a soft smile, Emmett focused his attention on our friends.

"Hey man, I thought you were going to start the fire," Edward griped. Bella was trailing behind him, looking sleepy. "The only way I could drag this one out of bed was to promise her S'mores. Are you just trying to get me in trouble, or what?"

"Oops. I guess I got distracted. Sorry, Bella. The lack of S'mores is all on me, but we'll remedy that ASAP." With one last look in my direction, Emmett was off the porch, dragging Alice in his wake.

A few minutes later, the fire was well on its way. The rest of us dragged lawn chairs out to the fire pit, and settled in to watch the fireworks we could see in the distance, over the lake. Jasper passed out sticks and supplies for S'mores, and Bella finally rejoined the land of the living. By this time tomorrow, we would all be back to our regular lives, and we all basked in the warmth of good conversation.

Heading back into the cabin to grab another round of drinks, Emmett passed by me. Leaning down he whispered into my ear, low enough that no one else could hear.

"For the record? I would have stayed."

I pretended not to notice the puzzled look Bella gave me. If anyone asked, I'd just tell them that my cheeks were flushed from the fire.

**A/N:** As always, I am indebted to **AthenaJean** and **AccioBourbon**. They don't just beta, they try to keep my preposition fetish in check. I'm a lucky, lucky girl to have them. Any mistakes left behind are all me. And honorable mention goes to Jess. Dickbag, consider this my love letter to you.


	4. Chapter 4

I trudged up the walkway to my apartment; it had taken six weeks, but my vacation glow had officially worn off. Work had been a beast for the past couple of weeks-too many deadlines and not enough hours in the day to meet them all. For once, I was grateful that I didn't have anything planned for the weekend. As I let myself into my apartment, I didn't even bother to turn on any lights. I kicked off my shoes, threw my purse onto the coffee table, and collapsed onto the couch in a heap.

Two hours later, the sound of my phone dragged me out of a disjointed dream, and I fumbled through my purse to try to silence it. With a sigh, I sat up and stretched. My phone blinked at me from the coffee table where I had tossed it- seventeen text messages, and four missed calls. Three of the calls and thirteen of the text messages were from Bella. I laughed as I scrolled through the text messages; she and Edward were on their way up to Door County to visit his grandparents for the weekend, and long car rides made Bella crazy.

_5:37 pm: What's the over/under on how long it takes before Edward turns on talk radio for the drive?_

_5:49 pm: Nevermind. It's fourteen minutes._

_6:03 pm: Why do we even bother with traffic reports? I swear to God, Rose, I could walk to Wisconsin faster than we can drive there._

"Ha! Unlikely, Bella." I said to my phone.

_6:09 pm: Are you in a pact with Edward to ignore me? Where are you?_

_6:23 pm: I KNOW YOU AREN'T TOO BUSY TO ANSWER TEXTS, ROSALIE!_

_6:25 pm: I can't believe you've forsaken me at the start of a long trek up to the wilderness. Have you no soul?_

_6:33 pm: Fine. Be that way._

_6:40 pm: I have been listening to talk radio for an hour. It was nice knowing you, but I'm going to throw myself out of the car, just as soon as we can go faster than 12 mph._

_6:47 pm: You know, I'm actually starting to get worried. Are you okay?_

_6:53 pm: ANSWER THE PHONE, ROSE!_

_7:03 pm: You have until 7:30 to make some sort of contact or I'm sending in backup._

_7:15pm: Fifteen minute warning, Rose. I'm not bluffing._

_7:31pm: You were warned._

Based on the timing of her phone calls, I could tell that at some point Bella had actually gone from playful to worried, and I felt a twinge of guilt. Before I could call her back, my screen flashed to life.

_**Emmett Cell**_

"Hello?" I answered cautiously. It was entirely possible that he wasn't the backup Bella had threatened. It wasn't out of ordinary for him to call me. Ever since the Fourth of July trip, we'd talked once a week or so, with texts in between.

"She lives!" Emmett boomed through the phone. "Hold on, Rose." I heard a muffled fumbling, and then Emmett's voice, speaking to someone else. "She's alive, Bella, jeez. Alright. Okay. I will!" I heard the sound of a phone clanking back into the cradle, and he was back.

"Sorry about that. Apparently you're not so good at answering your phone today, doll face."

"Ahh. You are the backup she threatened," I responded. "And here I was sure I'd have an Alice on my doorstep any minute."

"Alice is a bit pre-occupied at the moment, from what I gathered," Emmett replied dryly. "Looks like you're stuck with me."

"Well, I wouldn't call it 'stuck', exactly."

Emmett laughed, and I felt warm all over. We'd been headed somewhere these past few weeks, and I couldn't help but wonder if this weekend we were finally going to get there.

"So, what's with the incommunicado act? Bella seemed pretty worried."

"Just a long week. I sat down on the couch and fell asleep. Bella overreacts; I'm fine." I answered, hoping that I didn't sound too pathetic. It had been years since I made a conscious effort to attract a guy, but I was pretty sure that falling asleep before six o'clock on a Friday night didn't scream "interesting woman."

"I've got just the cure for that. I'll be there in half an hour."

"Emmett, you really don't have to come over. I'm fine."

"Who said anything about 'have to', woman? I'll be there in thirty, keep the couch warm for me." And then he hung up.

I stared at my phone in open-mouthed shock. All of our previous conversations, save the one night on the deck, had been light and playful. This was something different. Anticipation tingled along my skin.

~0~

True to his word, Emmett was at my door thirty minutes later, Chinese food and two Redbox movies in hand. I let him in without a word, and he breezed past me like he'd done it a thousand times before. Depositing his treasures on the coffee table he turned back and looked me up and down.

"Oh yeah, you've got it bad. Go put something comfortable on and let Emmett work his magic. Trust me, Hale."

I cocked an eyebrow at him but said nothing as I made my way into the bedroom to change into lounge pants and a tank top. By the time I pulled my hair back into a messy bun and returned to the living room, he'd gotten plates from the kitchen and laid out a veritable buffet of delicious goodness on my coffee table.

"Wow, I'm impressed." I stood in front of the couch, surveying my options. "But what will you eat, Emmett? I don't know if you brought enough food."

"You mock, but this is a tried and true Bad Week Remedy." His tone was all business, but the wide smile on his face gave him away. "Sit down, grab a plate, and dig in. You are allowed to wallow in your bad week through the first plate, but after that, all bets are off."

With that, we got to the business of eating. As I picked through the boxes, I realized that he had somehow brought all of my favorites. _That's got to be a coincidence, right?_ I asked myself. I reached over to get a second scoop of rice, and Emmett's arm shot out to stop me.

"Oh no ma'am. Like I said, after the first plate, all bets are off. What's got you all out of sorts tonight?" Something in his tone told me he was serious, that tonight wasn't just an excuse to eat Chinese food and watch movies. Something in his eyes made me want to let it all out, and then curl up with my head on his shoulder while we watched a movie.

"Just...ugh." With a sigh I set my plate down on the table and flopped back onto the couch. "It was just a gross week, you know? The kind where nothing goes right and everything is a crisis. I used my lunch break today to research buying an Alpaca farm in Peru."

"I see," he answered, leaning forward to grab my plate and finish serving up more beef and broccoli. "So, this Alpaca farm, does it come with workers, or is it a solo venture?" He handed me my plate and grinned at me, snagging a piece of broccoli off my plate and popping it into his mouth.

I couldn't help it, I laughed out loud. The tension that had been building in my shoulders all week started to melt away, and I realized that just having Emmett around made me feel better, lighter somehow.

After that, we talked and joked, falling into the now-familiar rhythm we had perfected in the last month. When we finished eating, Emmett got up to pop in one of the movies. I clapped and bounced in my seat when the title screen came up.

"_The Princess Bride_! I love this movie!" I squealed.

As much as I loved the movie, a belly full of Chinese food and a long week conspired against me, and the next thing I knew, Emmett was shaking me awake.

"Come on, doll face. Bedtime for you, I think."

"Oh God. I'm sorry! I always do that." I was groggy, but horrified that I'd fallen asleep with him sitting two feet away from me on the couch.

"Hey, hey. No worries. I had a great time tonight, Rose." He pulled me to my feet and started to steer me in the direction of my bedroom.

"Me too. Thanks for coming over and listening to me and...just...thanks for everything." I was suddenly shy and babbling, and sure sign that I needed to go to bed.

Emmett leaned in for a hug, and I found my face pressed up against his chest. It was so nice to lean for a minute, knowing that he could hold me up. I felt his arms tighten around me.

"My pleasure." He answered softly, but there was no mistaking the fondness in his voice. "Sweet dreams," he said as he headed for the door.

~0~

The next morning, I woke up feeling refreshed. Whether it was his "Bad Week Remedy" or Emmett himself, something had done the trick. I padded into the kitchen to make a cup of coffee and some toast. It was already too humid outside to drink coffee on the deck, so I settled for Adele on the stereo and the most recent issue of _Cosmopolitan_. This issue promised to teach me "78 Ways to Touch Him and Drive Him Wild"; I'm pretty sure they were just recycled from previous articles. I hadn't learned a new trick from _Cosmo_ in at least ten years, but I never could bring myself to pass it up in the checkout line.

I was just finishing up my second cup of coffee when my cell phone rang. Jasper's name flashed across the screen, and I hesitated before answering. A phone call from my brother before noon on a Saturday usually didn't mean anything good.

"Jasper, to what do I owe the honor," I answered, trying to sound nonchalant.

"The senior Hales will be in town this week," Jasper said. His normally laid-back attitude was nowhere to be heard, and in the background, I could hear Alice in the beginning stages of a freak-out.

"Is it too late to join Witness Protection?" I joked. "Come on, Jasper. You know the drill. We'll go to a stuffy restaurant for too-small portions of food, endure a passive-aggressive game of 'Which child are we more disappointed in now?', and then stop for ice cream on our way home. What's with the meltdown on your end? We can do this."

"Apparently Mom took a workshop on how to relate to your adult children, and she's changing the game plan on us. They're coming _here_, Rosie." Jasper's use of my childhood nickname had me swallowing hard.

"And by here you mean..." I trailed off, leaving room for him to fill in the blanks.

"My house! They're coming here. They want to have a 'nice family cookout', whatever that means!" Panic and anger seemed to be battling for the top position when Jasper spoke. "Alice is trying to find every ugly, pretentious gift they've ever sent, and I was just too stunned to think of a way to refuse them. Bella and Edward are on their way back from his grandparents early. Just...be here tomorrow around lunchtime to help? Dinner is scheduled for five."

Suddenly, I understood my brother's panic. Aside from a perfunctory visit when Alice and Jasper had moved in, my parents had never gone to his house. Any previous trips to town had meant dinner at an expensive restaurant, and the obligatory Sunday morning brunch at whatever luxury hotel our parents were staying at. The one Christmas they had spent in town, I'd hosted. Since my break-up with Royce meant that I was the top contender for "biggest disappointment," Jasper was on the hook this time.

"I'm so sorry. I'll be there. Anything else I can do? What do you need?" I felt my own level of panic rising, and tamped it down. The unspoken arrangement between Jasper and I was that only one of us could freak out at a time, and he definitely won the honors right now.

"No, don't worry about it. It'll be fine. What's the worst that could happen?" he asked with a shaky laugh. "It's one afternoon. Listen, I have to go. Alice is in the attic, and that never ends well." As if to punctuate his worry, I heard a distant crash in the background.

"Okay, call me if you need anything."

"Love you, sis."

"Love you too. Hug Alice."

Determined not to let this latest development destroy my weekend, I headed for the bathroom. One of my favorite features in my apartment was the sunken garden tub, and I planned to make full use of it this morning. A generous helping of bath salts and a soak in water just this side of boiling sounded like the perfect plan.

Forty-five minutes later I was standing in front of my closet, trying to decide what to wear. I didn't actually have any plans for the day, but that was no reason not to look my best. One thing I had discovered in the aftermath of my breakup was that wallowing really didn't suit me. Just getting dressed and ready for the day put me in a better frame of mind, even if all I planned to do was grocery shop and read on the couch. I heard the phone ringing in the living room, and abandoned the closet. Worried it might be Jasper calling back, I hurried to answer the phone, but stopped short when I saw that it was Emmett calling. Two calls in as many days was unprecedented.

"Hey you!" It was ridiculous how happy I sounded to be answering the phone. Apparently, I had no game whatsoever where Emmett was concerned. Not that I was even sure I was trying to attract him, but the old Rosalie would have played coy, no matter what.

"Rose, hi." Emmett sounded...not nervous exactly, but not himself.

"What's up? Are you okay?"

"What? Yeah. I'm fine. I just...what are you doing tonight?"

"No plans, why?"

"Would you like to go out? On a date? With me, I mean?" Emmett spoke quickly, and I was a little shocked to hear how unravelled he seemed by this whole thing. Royce had never sounded like that; he always acted like I was a sure thing. Emmett's nerves made me melt a little.

"I'd love to."

"Okay, then. I'll see you at six." I swear, I heard him let out a sigh, like he had been holding his breath. "I guess, um, have a good day."

"Emmett, wait!" I laughed before he could hang up. "Where are we going?"

"I have a plan, don't you worry."

"I'm sure you have a plan, but I need to know what to wear." I hated that I had to sound like such a girl about it, but Emmett was an unknown when it came to dating.

"Oh! I guess, just, there's not a dress code, or anything. Normal clothes? You don't have to wear anything special. Not that it won't be special, but...I mean, you always look good. Just..." As flattered as I was that going on a date with me made Emmett this flustered, I took pity on him before he could get too wound up.

"Emmett, take a breath. Are jeans okay?" I asked with a huge smile.

"Yes. Thank you. I should go."

"I'll see you at six, Emmett."

"Bye, Rose."

**A/N:** Thanks to **AccioBourbon** for holding my hand through a whole "I don't know what to write" thing that included a ridiculous amount of whining, and then beta-ing for me. I gave Athena the chapter off. Thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, favorited, or tweeted-you make me smile my big cheesey smile.


	5. Chapter 5

At 5:45, I was ready, and I found myself straightening up my already clean living room just to have something to do while I waited. I would have pegged Emmett as the "five minutes early" type, but by 6:05, I had run out of things to straighten, and he still hadn't arrived. A year ago, I would have considered anything under thirty minutes "on time", so I could hardly get upset over five minutes.

6:15 came and went, leaving behind an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. I texted Alice, just to verify that my phone was working. Her almost instant reply made it clear that there was nothing wrong on my end, but it did nothing to reassure me. Biting my thumb and staring at the door, I couldn't help but wonder if this was karma for all of the boys I had made wait for me in the past.

"Dear God; I know we don't talk much. Okay, ever. The thing is, I think I really like this guy. And I'm sure there's a logical explanation for him to be late without calling. So, I guess, could You just...make sure he's okay, and that nothing bad happened? I would really appreciate it. I'll try to do better about that whole taking Your name in vain thing, and I promise to never, ever make someone wait for me again, unless it's absolutely necessary. Okay, thanks."

I was still rolling my eyes at myself for praying to a God I wasn't even sure I believed in about a guy when I heard a shuffling sound outside my door, followed by definite mumbling. I didn't wait for a knock, and I didn't check the peep-hole before I swung my front door open. I heard "get it together, man" just before Emmett stopped pacing and snapped his head up, meeting my gaze with sorrowful eyes. Sweaty, rumpled, and a little out of breath, he took one step towards me before stopping.

"Rose, I'm so sorry. I didn't...I don't...I'm not late, ever. Except today. I had everything planned, and now it's ruined, and I'm just so sorry."

"Hey, stop that. I'm sure it's not ruined," I answered. A very small part of me wanted to laugh at this big, confident man, babbling his apology on my doorstep, while the rest of me looked at him like he was an answered prayer. "Come on, why don't you come inside and calm down for a second, okay? It's fine, Emmett. Really."

I grabbed his wrist and pulled him into the living room, shutting the door quietly behind us. I steered Emmett towards the couch, and once he was settled, headed into the kitchen to get him a glass of water. Whatever had made him late seemed to have him a little shook up, and I thought a couple of minutes to gather his thoughts would probably help more than the water.

When I returned to the living room, Emmett had his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands, the picture of desolation. It was a little mean, but I couldn't stop the giggle that escaped. His head snapped up and he narrowed his eyes at me.

"Are you laughing at my pain, Hale? Really?" Emmett's tone was incredulous.

"I'm not, I swear! Okay, maybe a little. Not your pain, per se, but...right before you got here, I was...praying," I paused, a little embarrassed at what I had just admitted. "I was praying that you were okay, and then you showed up, and for just a second I thought 'God does answer prayers!' but then you looked so sad. It just seems wrong for the answer to my prayers to be so morose about it. I always expected a fallen angel to look a little more bad-ass, I guess."

"Did you just call me a fallen angel?" Emmett asked, a little of the tension gone from his shoulders.

"The metaphor could use some work." I replied dryly. "So, do you want to tell me what's got you so worked up?" Instead of taking the seat next to him on the couch, I sat down on the coffee table across from him. Handing over the glass of water, I continued.

"I'm a pretty good listener, although I can see how that might not be the impression you've gotten of me up until now. Besides, I have a feeling that if you get it off your chest, you'll feel a whole lot better. Fess up, buddy."

Emmett drank half the water in one gulp and then balanced the glass on his knee, resting his head against the back of the couch. Staring at the ceiling, he started talking.

"I had it all planned. I left the house in plenty of time, picked up flowers, called ahead to make sure everything was in place, and then I got a flat tire. And I got all sweaty and gross trying to fix it and it made me late and I hate being late and I hate that I didn't even think to call you and let you know. And now our table has been given away, and I accidentally sat on the flowers when I sat in the passenger seat of my car to get the tire lock out of the glove box, and I think I would really just like to call a mulligan on this date and start from scratch some other day."

"You have had quite the night so far, Mr. McCarty." Standing up, I took the glass of water from his hand. "Unfortunately, I don't believe in mulligans, so we're just going to have to work through this."

Emmett finally snapped out of his funk and looked at me. "You don't believe in mulligans? Of course not. You don't make anything easy, do you?" He smiled, and it took the sting out of his words.

"Let me rephrase that. It's not that I don't believe in mulligans, it's that I don't think anything about this date needs one. Maybe the night won't go exactly like you had planned, and if you want to keep the plan a secret so you can redo it at some point in the future, then I won't stop you. But unless you just don't want to see me tonight, I don't see any reason why we have to let a couple of mishaps get in our way."

Finally, _finally_, Emmett smiled, a real smile, one that lit up his whole face, and made my chest ache with a burst of pride. _I did that_, I thought. _I put that smile on his face. Me._

"You're something else, Rosalie Hale." Emmett said, and the ache in my chest spread and turned warm. "I don't think I can argue with logic like that. There's just one problem."

"There are no problems, Emmett, only solutions," I shot back at him, unwilling to let anything get in the way of the tingle spreading through my body.

"John Lennon probably had a Plan B."

"Consider me your Yoko Ono, buddy." Grabbing his hand and pulling him up from the couch, I slipped my purse onto my shoulder. "Have no fear, I'm great at winging it."

"But, my car..." Emmett stopped moving and tried to pull me back. "We should sit down, figure something out."

"Shh! Your car will be just fine in the parking lot here. We'll take mine. Come on, we're burning daylight!" Still leading the way, I locked the door behind us. It didn't escape my notice that we were still holding hands.

"Do you trust me?"

"What? Of course!" Even so, as he spoke, Emmett looked just the tiniest bit panicked. Maybe I wasn't the only one who needed a lesson in how to unclench.

"Then don't think, just come on." I looked over my shoulder at him and gave him a saucy wink, while surreptitiously checking out his clothes. Oh yes, I thought. This will work.

We got to my car and I walked him to the passenger side. Unfortunately, I had to let go of his hand. Emmett looked confused as I stepped away from him and unlocked the doors with my remote.

"Get in, buddy. I'm driving."

~0~

Fifteen minutes of teasing conversation later, I parked the car and gave Emmett an expectant look. "Well? We're here. What do you think?"

"I think we're at a bowling alley." Emmett looked perplexed, and I had to laugh.

"This is not just any bowling alley, Emmett. This is the bowling alley slash entertainment fun center of your dreams!" Unable to contain my excitement any longer, I bounced in my seat and flung my door open. "Come on!"

I rounded the car, ready to drag him out of his seat by force if need be. I was relieved to see that I didn't have to, since Emmett was already out of the car when I got there. He still looked wary, and I started to worry that maybe my brilliant back-up plan wasn't so brilliant after all.

"Here's the deal," he said, taking my arm and leading me toward the door. "I'm up for anything except wearing rental shoes. I have standards."

"Don't worry, bowling is not on the agenda tonight. I didn't think to grab my ball."

"Of course you have your own bowling ball," Emmett grumbled. He held open the door for me, and we walked into the cacophony of "The Strike Zone."

"I'm just full of surprises, aren't I?" I grinned up at him.

Leading Emmett through the building, I marvelled at the fact that I had apparently lost my ability to play it cool. The idea that I didn't want to hide my excitement should have been sobering, but I realized that I didn't care. Being with Emmett made me happy, and I felt freer than I could ever remember feeling on a first date.

Just before we reached the back door that would lead us to my first destination for the evening, I stopped at a small desk, manned by an obviously bored teenager. I sized Emmett up with a critical eye and then turned back to the desk.

"We're going to need a 33-inch bat and two helmets, please. Is four open?" I slid my credit card across the desk. "Start a tab."

Without looking up at us, the kid grabbed the bat and slid it across the desk with one hand and grabbed my card with the other. Emmett finally lost the adorable, perplexed look he'd been sporting since we pulled up.

"You brought me to a batting cage? For a date?"

"Duh, Emmett." I grinned, and led him to the helmets the teenager had pointed to with a vague wave of his hand. Somehow, an entire transaction had taken place without the kid saying a single word.

We stepped out of the building into the late evening sun. The sound of aluminum connecting with cowhide seemed to help the last of the tension drain from Emmett's shoulders. I knew that my instincts had been right when he shot me a smile so wide and bright that I nearly stumbled from the force of it.

"Alright, big guy," I said, handing him the bat and a helmet. "Show me what you've got. Make it good, though. I don't want to see you half-assing it in there, you hear me?"

"You've got it, Coach!" Emmett mock-saluted me and headed towards the cage with a spring in his step.

And oh, watching Emmett in a batting cage was a joy. He put so much concentration into every pitch, all of his energy contained into a tight coil, as he waited for the perfect moment to move. By his fifth swing, I was a goner. Everything about this man was attractive, down to his ridiculous batting stance. I gave up on watching anything but the flex of his broad shoulders, and the way his forearms looked so strong as he gripped the bat. He had rolled his sleeves up, and I couldn't decide if he was showing too much skin, or not enough.

When he was out of breath and thoroughly disheveled, Emmett paused the pitching machine. "You're up, Coach," he said with a smirk. "Are you up for it?"

_Don't make the joke, Rose. It's too soon. Don't make the joke. Don't make the joke._

"Oh, I think I can handle it," I replied, sauntering towards the cage with a swing in my step. I recognized that we were moving our relationship from "glacial pace" to "warp speed" in the span of an hour, but I couldn't stop myself. I knew that the slow pace and the weeks of circling each other had been for my benefit, and I would always be amazed at how Emmett seemed to just know what I needed.

I took my time settling into my batting stance. In addition to looking good, I wanted to knock his socks off with my skills. It had been awhile since I visited the batting cages; this sort of place wasn't exactly high on Royce's list of destinations. My first few swings were rusty, and Emmett shouted good-natured taunts from his bench just outside the cage.

"Come on, Rose, is that all you've got for me? You're gonna have to do better than that if you want to make it to The Show," Emmett heckled.

I arched an eyebrow at him and focused on the task at hand. The seventh pitch came, and before my bat even connected with the ball, I knew. I had hit my stride, and Emmett McCarty was about to eat his words. Pitch after pitch came, and I hit them all. When the burn in my arms registered a notch above mild, I paused the machine. The sound of a slow clap caught my attention.

"Well played, my lady, well played." Emmett walked up to the cage and handed me a bottle of water.

Our reputations as respectable ballplayers firmly intact, we spent the next hour goofing around. Emmett had a spot-on impression of Moises Alou's batting stance, and I was delighted to finally have someone who appreciated my ability to imitate Greg Maddux on the mound. As the sun set and we headed back in to turn in our bat and helmets, I realized that I had never laughed so much on a date.

We decided to bypass the sketchy pizza in the bowling alley's restaurant, and instead headed back to my car. We reached the passenger side, and Emmett wrapped his arms around my shoulders. Almost on instinct, my arms went around his waist, and for a minute, it was just the two of us, breathing each other in and basking in the fading light.

"Rose, this was...perfect. It was nothing like what I had planned, and I never would have expected it, but it was exactly the thing I needed. So, thank you for that. You're kind of amazing, you know?" Emmett's voice was quiet, and I leaned my head on his chest, loving the way it rumbled as he spoke.

"Yeah?" I replied. "I've been taking lessons from this guy. He's pretty amazing, too." My stomach picked that moment to protest our lack of dinner. Emmett laughed, and pushed me just far enough away that he could look me in the eye.

"Okay, I definitely think it's time to eat. Can..." he took a deep breath and his next words came out in a rush. "Can I drive you to dinner? Just so I can feel like I had some semblance of a hand in tonight's awesomeness?"

"Only on one condition," I said, dangling my keys. "I need you to recognize that you did have a hand in tonight's awesomeness. I just pointed us in the right direction."

"Deal."

~0~

An hour and a half later, after lingering over our dinner, Emmett walked me back to my door. He reached around me to unlock the door, but before he could open it, I turned to face him.

"I had a really good time tonight." I spoke softly, not quite meeting his gaze. How was I supposed to tell this man that I couldn't let him in to my house? He was amazing, the closest thing to perfect that I'd ever met, and I knew that if I let him in, it would go too far. I didn't want taking him to bed to be something that either one of us ever looked back on with regret.

"Me too." Emmett's voice was low. Bracing himself against the door with one arm, he reached up and cupped my face with his left hand, forcing me to look at him. His breath was warm on my cheek as he ghosted a kiss there, barely touching the skin. He leaned in closer to whisper in my ear.

"You're amazing, Rose. Thank you for a wonderful evening."

_Oh!_ I thought to myself. T_his is what it feels like to be weak in the knees. I get it, now._

"You too." I breathed, my heart pounding furiously in my chest. He was so close that I could feel the warmth radiating from his body, and when he started to pull away, I acted on pure instinct.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him back in. There was a split second where both of us just stared, and my breath caught in my throat.

_What if I'm wrong? What if he doesn't want this? What if he doesn't want me?_

"Stop over-thinking it, Hale." Emmett's voice pulled me back to reality. It was impossible to deny the naked want on his face.

My fingers were toying with the hair at the nape of his neck, and I used my arms to pull him the rest of the way to me. I swear, I felt his shoulders sag in relief when I pressed my lips to his.

And then, we were kissing. Not a polite kiss on the lips that says "Thank you for a great time." Not a tentative "I think I might like you." Full-on lips and tongues and hands kissing. The kind of kissing that says "I want you. I need you. I think I might die if I can't have you." Emmett had one hand in my hair, and the other at my waist, and _holy shit_, this man could kiss.

We broke apart when giggling and whispers pushed their way through our haze. A little breathless, we both burst into laughter when "Get a room!" floated across the hall just before a door slammed.

I should have been embarrassed that I got caught making out in the hallway like a teenager. I should have been embarrassed that I practically threw myself at Emmett. Then I got another look at his forearm as he rubbed his hand over his face, and it was all I could do to keep from staging a repeat performance.

"I should go." Emmett reached around me to open my door, and I stopped him with a hand on his wrist.

"Should go, or want to go?" I asked, a little ashamed of the uncertainty that tinged my voice.

Emmett leaned down, his eyes blazing, and kissed me, hard. "_Should_ go, Rose. What I want..." He opened the door and gently picked me up and deposited me on the other side of the threshold.

"What I want is to stay here and make sure that I never hear that kind of doubt in your voice again. And I will, but not tonight. Goodnight, Rose."

"Goodnight, Emmett. Sweet dreams."

"Oh, they will be."

A kiss to my cheek and he was gone, pulling the door closed behind him. I pressed my fingers to my lips, almost as if I thought I could hold the memory there, and walked towards my bedroom, happier than I ever remember being.

**A/N:** I could not write this without **Minerva_May_I** (Formerly Known As **AthenaJean**) and **AccioBourbon**, about whom not enough wonderful things can be said. They keep me from being a cliche, catch my tragic mis-use of commas and dialogue tags, and make me laugh until I cry. **Athena** kept me from using "explode" in a really inappropriate place, and encouraged me to name "The Strike Zone" something more fitting, like "All Balls, No Glory." **Accio** provides me with YouTube videos for inspiration. They are both amazing, wonderful, lovely women, and I'm lucky beyond words to have them. **IdPattThat** keeps me company in WCs, and **TheHeartofLife** is the lovliest nagger I know. I adore all of them more than I can say.

Thank you to everyone who is reading, and reviewing. If you're here because someone else sent you, tell them I said thanks. Your reviews are lovely, and they make me smile at work.


	6. Chapter 6

The morning after my first kiss with Emmett, I walked around grinning like a fool. Not even the prospect of dinner with my parents was enough to put a damper on my good mood. My friends could tell something was up, but even when Emmett arrived that night, no one guessed our secret.

And it was a secret, for a little while. We never explicitly said so, but I think Emmett understood that this was something I wanted to keep as just ours, at least at first. I love my friends, but since my breakup with Royce, it felt like my life had become a group project. And there was still a part of me, no matter how small, that wasn't sure how all of this would pan out. The last thing I wanted was for my relationship with Emmett to affect Emmett's relationships with my friends.

For three weeks after that first kiss, we spent a lot of time just navigating the waters of getting to know each other. I learned that Emmett was obsessive to the point of anal-retentiveness about his book collection; he may have been a marketing genius, but I still think he missed his true calling as a librarian. He learned that I am nearly incoherent before my first cup of coffee in the morning. One afternoon, I showed up early for a dinner date and learned that Emmett sings in the shower. Loudly and badly, but he gets points for enthusiasm. A late night _Criminal Minds_ marathon taught Emmett that I cry like a baby at those awful ASPCA commercials with the sad music and the sadder animals. A week later, he learned that the only thing that will make me cry more is finding out that a generous donation was made in my name.

We learned other things, too. I learned that a good shoulder rub could make him moan almost as fast as a well-placed jaw nibble. _Almost_. Emmett learned that there's a spot just below my right ear that, when kissed just so, makes me melt. I learned that there are plenty of places to leave a hickey, even after you rule out anything not covered by normal, seasonally-appropriate clothing.

Most important, I learned that giving your heart to someone else isn't scary at all when it's an even trade.

After three weeks of movies, and dinners, and talking, and make-out sessions that left me panting like a teenager, I still hadn't taken Emmett to bed. I wanted to; there were nights I thought that I would spontaneously combust if I didn't have him. And no matter how much of a gentleman he tried to be, I could tell he wanted it, too. Still, he was the one who pulled away, leaning back on his couch, trying to catch his breath.

"Do you not...is it...gah!" I was at a loss for words. Three weeks of making out, and if I didn't get this man out of his shirt and into my pants tonight, I was pretty sure I was going to die. Frustrated and embarrassed, I tried to shift out of my current position, straddling his lap.

Emmett stilled me with his hands, gentle but firm on my hips. I huffed out my annoyance, waiting for him to speak. When he finally did, my heart clenched at the uncertainty I heard in his voice.

"I do. I really, really do." He looked me in the eyes, but then focused his gaze somewhere over my left shoulder.

"But what?" I asked, my heart in my throat. It wouldn't be the lack of sex that killed me, it would be the pain of hearing him say that even if his body wanted me, his heart didn't.

"But not if I'm going to be your secret, Rose." Emmett's voice was sad and his words were mumbled, and half of me was horrified that I had somehow made him think he was a secret. The other half of me was elated to know that he really did want me.

"Hey, look at me," I requested, my voice soft. He didn't. "Please?" When he kept his gaze on his lap, his cheeks burning, I took matters into my own hands.

Grabbing his chin with my right hand, I forced him to look at me. I ran my left hand through his hair, silently willing him to calm down.

"You're not a secret, Em. I'm so, so sorry if I made you feel that way. I didn't..." I took a deep breath and continued, determined to lay it all out, even if it made me feel foolish. He had shown me his, now it was my turn.

"I wasn't trying to keep you a secret. I just didn't want to share you, share _this_, with anyone else." He opened his mouth to interrupt, and I put my hand over his lips. Rude, but an effective way to make sure he knew that I needed him to hear this.

"No, listen to me. Just...just let me get it all out at once, okay?" He nodded, and I removed my hand.

"The past few months, I've turned into a sort of project for Bella and Alice. I love them, and I don't know what I would have done at the beginning without them. But I don't want to be that girl anymore. I'm not broken; I don't need them to fix me. And I didn't want...they're your friends now, too, Emmett. They love you, and I didn't want this to change that, even for a little bit. Mostly, though, I just wanted to keep this for us. I feel like we're in a bubble, and I know that can't last, but I just wanted to enjoy it without having anyone ask me questions, or shoot menacing glares your way, or make jokes about it. But I never, ever meant for it to make you feel like I was ashamed of you. I'm not."

"Is it my turn, now?" Emmett asked, some of the familiar sparkle back in his eyes. I nodded, because after all of those words, I was afraid to say anything else.

"I'm sorry, too. I'm sorry I let my own insecurities get the better of me, and I'm sorry I didn't say something sooner. I'm sorry that I made you feel like I didn't want you, because Rose? I want you. I'm pretty sure I've never wanted anything more."

"Oh, thank God." I laughed, because I had never felt so light at the end of a serious conversation before, and because hearing someone say "I want you" is so, so much better than being pretty sure they want you.

With all of the urgency gone, we were content to just cuddle on the couch, the TV in the background providing a flickering glow. We talked about everything, and nothing, and three hours later, the out of control loudness of an infomercial jolted me out of sleep.

"Shit!"

My exclamation woke Emmett, and for a minute we just blinked at each other stupidly, too wrapped in the haze of sleep to know what to say. Emmett stood and held his hand out to me.

"Come on, Hale. If we're going to sleep, we might as well do it horizontally, on an actual bed." When I made no move to get up, he sighed in exasperation.

"Look, it's late, you're half-asleep, and there's absolutely no reason why we shouldn't share a bed. Four hours ago you wanted to do a lot more than sleep in that bed, so just...come on. I'll get you something to sleep in, and we'll figure out the rest of it in the morning. I'm tired, you're tired, and there's a good chance my back will never recover from it if we continue to sleep on the couch. "

"Well, when you put it like that..." So maybe it wasn't the romance and flowers and sweet talk I had been expecting, but it was us. A little bit snarky, a little bit impatient, but mostly perfect.

"Thank God." Emmett answered as he led me down the hallway to his bedroom. "I really wasn't done holding you, yet."

That night, I learned two more things about Emmett McCarty: He makes an excellent "big spoon," and he gets a little handsy in his sleep.

~0~

Waking up the next morning wrapped in a solid embrace was pretty much the best thing ever. At least until Emmett woke up, and I discovered my new favorite activity. Emmett's sleep-groping had nothing on his wide-awake groping. Luckily for me, coherency wasn't a requirement, beyond "yes", "there", "please", "now", and "oh my God.'

Not that the sex was perfect, movie-quality sex. There was head bumping, and "ow, you're on my hair!" and that really awkward moment where there's a condom and I never really know where to look, and a million other little things that I would be able to ignore in the heat of the moment. It turns out those things are a lot harder to ignore in the quiet hush of the morning.

It also turns out that those things are freaking hilarious. So there were weird noises and awkward limbs, but there was also laughter.

"Okay, here's the deal," I said, once I caught my breath. "I'm not sharing that with anyone."

"Phew," replied Emmett, with a mock wipe of his brow. "I like your friends, but Bella's my sort-of sister, and Alice is just sort of scary. I bet I could take Edward, but I think Jasper is probably a lot tougher than he looks."

"Wow. Mental images I did not need. Thanks for that." I couldn't help the smile that spread across my face. "What I meant was that I'm done hiding this. I hope you're ready to go public, because I might take out a billboard."

"Can I put on pants first?" Emmett cracked.

"Only if you have to. I'm actually considering instituting a "No Pants, No Problem!" rule. Any objections?"

"None."

~0~

I didn't waste any time in telling Bella my news, once I decided I was ready to share it. While Emmett rummaged in the kitchen for breakfast, I sent off a text that I was sure would get her full attention.

_9:48am: Hey, are you free later? Emergency Girlie Lunch?_

Bella's reply was swift.

_9:51am: Mimi's at 1:30? Alice, too?_

_9:52am: Sounds good. Alice, for sure. See you then._

~0~

By the time I made it to the restaurant, Alice and Bella were already seated. We chatted about nothing of consequence until after our lunch orders had been placed, knowing that once we got started, we'd resent any interruptions that pulled us out of our conversation. Once our menus were gone and my mimosa had been delivered, I knew I was out of time to stall.

"Alright, Hale, spill it." Bella fixed me with her most intimidating look. "Something's up with you, and I want to know what it is."

"I'm dating Emmett," I answered, surprised at the surety and calm I heard in my own voice.

The table erupted in squeals and hugs and general pandemonium for a full minute before the three of us managed to get ahold of ourselves. Other diners were starting to stare, and for once in my life, I didn't care. Let them look.

"Oh my God, I_ knew _it!" Alice crowed. "You were both way too happy to just be 'good friends who hang out sometimes' without there being a little something extra involved."

"Alice!" Bella sounded scandalized. She looked at me a little warily, knowing from experience that I wasn't usually prone to making my private life lunchtime conversation.

"Well, she's right." I laughed. "Although, after this morning, I wouldn't use the word 'little' in any context."

More squealing, and a few dirty looks from a neighboring table, ensued.

"When did this happen?" Bella wanted to know.

"That weekend you and Edward went to his grandparents' cabin. It just...clicked. I don't know, you guys. It feels right."

"That was weeks ago!" Alice cried. "You've kept this from us for weeks?"

"Oh hush, Alice," Bella chided her. I looked at my best friend and saw unshed tears filling her eyes.

"Oh my God, Bella, are you _crying_?" I was incredulous. Bella was a softie, sure, but this was a bit much, even for her.

"I'm fine! I'm just so happy for you, Rose. You deserve this, so much, and..." Bella dissolved into tears, her face blushing a furious red behind her hands.

I scooted my chair closer and wrapped my arms around her, genuinely concerned. Alice was uncharacteristically silent across the table, one hand covering the "O" of her mouth.

"Bella! You're scaring me. What's wrong?"

"I sorry!" she wailed, drawing even more looks, and even a few whispers, from other diners. "This is so stupid. I'm so happy for you, I am! I'm just...I'm pregnant! And I'm so happy for you and all I can do is cry! Stupid hormones!"

There was a beat of silence, and suddenly, Alice was on us like a whirlwind. We were a mess of laughter and tears and hugs, and so I almost missed it when Alice's words settled around us.

"Me too."

**A/N:** **AccioBourbon** and **Minerva_May_I** hold my hand and make everything I write sound better. There are not enough words to express how grateful I am, or how much I love them. **IdPattThat** and **TheHeartofLife** inspired Rosalie's "No Pants? No problem!" campaign.

Thank you to everyone who has alerted or reviewed. I love every single review.

This is the second-to-last chapter. Initially, this was the last chapter, but** Accio** convinced me to split it in half. The good news is, the next chapter is already written, and should post in the next few days.


	7. Chapter 7

Nine months later, I made the now-familiar trek out to Edward's parents' cabin for another long weekend. So much had changed in the past year, for all of us.

After I fessed up to Bella and Alice, Emmett and I settled comfortably into our relationship. We spent Thanksgiving with his family, and Christmas with mine. For New Year's, I surprised him with a week in Key West; Emmett's first winter in "the frozen tundra" was particularly brutal, and I couldn't resist the opportunity to treat him to some sunshine.

When the lease was up on his apartment in February, we talked about moving in together. I didn't want to make a decision based on a deadline, so we tabled the issue. He renewed his lease for another year, and when my lease was up at the end of April, we were both more than ready to take that step. I was worried at first that moving in together would put a strain on our relationship. Aside from Emmett's completely neurotic need to "integrate all of our books in a cohesive manner," we were fine.

I spent the last night in my apartment with Bella and Alice; it seemed fitting to have them with me when I closed the door on that chapter of my life. Besides, they were both ready for a night without diaper changes or midnight feedings.

Julianne Marie Cullen was born on March 3rd, healthy and perfect; Brandon Matthew Hale screamed his way into the world two weeks later. I fell in love with both of them immediately.

I had suggested that maybe this year, we should skip the Memorial Day gathering at the cabin, thinking that my friends would probably much rather catch up on sleep. I was immediately out-voted. Bella and Alice insisted that they were more than ready to "get our drink on and kick the men's asses at lawn darts."

"What are you thinking about over there, dollface?" Emmett's voice pulled me out of my reverie.

"Just trying to decide which baby to put on our bags team," I answered with a laugh.

"I vote Jules-Edward would rather gnaw his own arm off than hand her a loss." Emmett laughed, and reached for my hand. As the landscape blurred past, I marvelled at how perfectly things seem to work themselves out.

~0~

Later that night, I woke up and realized that I was alone in bed. I listened for sounds that would clue me in on where Emmett had gone but heard nothing. Curious, I tiptoed down the hall to find him.

Faint light was spilling into the kitchen from the back porch, and I silently pushed open the screen door and stepped out. My breath caught in my throat at the sight before me.

Emmett was on the swing, the same spot where we had our first big discussion nearly a year ago, rocking a sniffling Jules. His voice, so soft, drifted across the porch at me.

"...really fun. Don't look at me like that, kiddo. Sure, I'm a little biased. If it wasn't for your mom, I never would have met your Aunt Rosie. She's the best, Jules. You're so lucky; your whole life is going to be surrounded by these awesome people."

Jules must have been unimpressed by Emmett's tale, because she let out a piercing wail. I started across the porch to try to help him calm her back down before she woke the whole house up, but stopped short.

Without missing a beat, Emmett laid her on his shoulder and started rocking while rubbing circles on her back. And then, he started to sing. The same guy who sang off-key and off-tempo in the shower every morning managed a very passable rendition of "Hush, Little Baby", even managing to keep the beat while replacing "Mama" with "Uncle Emmett."

It didn't take long for Jules to settle down, and soon enough, she was sound asleep.

"Hey you." I whispered, stepping into the light. "What's going on out here?" I sat on the swing next to Emmett and took the baby.

"I got up to get a drink and heard her fussing. Figured Edward and Bella could use a night of sleep." Emmett wrapped an arm around my shoulder and dropped a kiss on my temple. "She's not much for conversation, but she's got quite the set of lungs."

There's something inherently peaceful about a sleeping baby and a beautiful night, and I let out a happy sigh as we rocked. I snuggled in closer to Emmett and we gazed at the stars. Before long, his breathing evened out and I realized he was asleep. Content to stay here just a little longer, I let him.

I heard the back door open and looked up, surprised to see Carlisle there, holding Brandon.

"You too?" I asked, as Carlisle made his way to the rocker next to the swing.

"I missed out on this with Edward." Carlisle's reply was a little wistful. "Residency and a new baby aren't the best mix, as it turns out."

I laughed, careful not to jostle the baby too much. "I can imagine."

"It was worth it, because by the time he was old enough to remember, I had more regular hours. But it's nice to have a second chance."

I glanced over at Emmett and smiled. "Second chances are pretty awesome," I agreed.

~0~

The next day, bolstered by the first full night of sleep they'd had in months, Alice and Bella were both ready for a little competition. With plenty of extra hands for feedings and diapers at the ready, we set up a game of bags.

As it turns out, nine months of sobriety makes Drunken Bags even more drunken. Alice had always been a bit of a lightweight, but she was comically tipsy after just one beer. Bella wasn't much better off, which was funnier, since she had been the reigning tequila shot champion back in college. Oh the times, how they change.

Jasper and I, however, had no such problems, and the final game of our mini-tournament was going down to the wire. Bella and Alice sat in the shade, happily cuddling babies, while Esme fussed about sunblock, and Carlisle started up the grill.

"C'mon Rosie, head in the game!" Emmett cajoled from his side of the field. I looked up just in time to see Jasper making a rude face in my direction.

"Yeah, Rose," Edward added from his spot next to me. "I'd hate to see you lose to your brother. It's okay, though. We'll just tell everyone that you were too clouded by my handsome good-looks and manly presence to concentrate."

"I always knew you had a thing for Edward," Bella said. She was obviously still delusional from lack of sleep.

"Shut it, all of you," I laughed, getting ready to take my shot. "Jasper, I'd warn you that your face will stick like that, but it's kind of an improvement over your normal, repulsive mug, so keep it up. And you, pretty boy," I said, turning to Edward, "I've always said that Bella needed to get her vision checked."

"Oooooh, burn!" Emmett taunted.

"Oh yeah, good one, sis. What's next, 'I know you are, but what am I?' Just throw the damn bag, already! By the time you're done, Brandon will be able to drive us home." Jasper took a swig from his beer, and I was half-tempted to throw the bag at him. With a head that big, there's no way I'd miss.

"Language!" Alice scolded from her seat. "I thought we agreed that I would be the one to teach the kids how to swear!"

Laughing, I tossed my bag, and did a completely undignified dance when it landed square in the hole.

"Take that, bitches!" I crowed. "Sorry, Alice."

"Eh, it's fine. Totally perfect usage; if he's not going to learn from me, at least I can rest content in the knowledge that he's learning from a pro."

Emmett and I trounced Team New Daddy soundly, and all of us headed back towards the porch, ready to get to our second favorite part of these weekends, the food. Halfway to the house, I realized that Emmett was hanging back.

"McCarty, it's not like you to take your time getting to a meal." I started to head back towards him when I realized he had stopped moving completely. "What's up?"

Emmett had his head down, looking intently at the grass.

"I think I dropped something."

"What do you mean you 'think?' You either did or you didn't. This is not..."

I stopped just before I got to him, my heart pounding in my chest. Emmett was down on one knee, squinting up at me. The sun glinted off of the ring in his hand.

"Rosalie Hale, I want to spend the rest of my life winning games with you, and rocking babies, and gazing at the stars, and seeing you smile. I want to hear you laugh at me while I rearrange books, and growl at me when I wake you up too early in the morning. Will you marry me?"

Stunned, all I could do was stare at him. Fifteen seconds ago I was teasing him, and now he's asking me to marry him?

"You want to marry me?" I felt stupid, like this beautiful man, with his smiles and his kisses and his giant heart, had stolen my ability to reason.

"Duh, Hale." In true Emmett fashion, he was smiling, patiently waiting, because he already knew. He always knew.

Everything else faded away, and all I could see was Emmett, on one knee, waiting for me to catch up.

"Yes." My answer was a whisper, and my voice was shaky, overwhelmed by the tears that I knew were coming any minute. So I did the only thing that I could.

I tackled him, and kissed his face, and repeated myself, over and over. "Yes. Yes. Yes."

"I think she said yes." Jasper's voice was sarcastic, but there was no hiding how happy he sounded.

Behind us on the porch, Bella and Alice were doing their usual squealing girl routine, frantically trying to hand babies off to daddies or grandparents so they could join us. Bella finally gave up and flew across the lawn, Jules in her arms.

It was a riot of hugs and laughter and tears. Eventually, all of us made our way back to the porch, where Emmett was greeted with claps on the back from Jasper and Edward, and a proud handshake from Carlisle.

We headed back into the house, and Esme pulled me to the side. Her arms wrapped around me, and she whispered in my ear.

"I'm so happy for you, Rosalie. He's a lucky man."

"I'm the lucky one," I replied, tears brimming in my eyes.

~0~

The babies were finally in bed, and we were all sitting outside around a fire, trading laughs and stories. It was hard to imagine, looking at the happy faces lit by the glow of the fire, that this was the same group that gathered last spring to help me pick up the pieces of my broken heart.

They didn't just help me pick up the pieces; they helped me build something infinitely better. Bella and Alice, with their Tuesday night take-out and Glee watch-alongs; Edward with his patience and kindness while I monopolized his wife; Jasper, with his silent, unwavering support.

And Emmett. Emmett with his smiles and laughter and his freakish ability to know exactly what I needed, before I could even put it into words.

These people had my heart-my _whole_ heart-and I knew that I would love all of them forever.

Bella caught my eye across the fire and blew me a kiss, mouthing "I love you" to me.

Eventually everyone else went to bed, called away by baby monitors and exhaustion, leaving me and Emmett to coax the last of the flames out of the fire. After he doused the embers with sand, Emmett pulled me out of my chair.

"Ready?" he asked, turning towards the house.

I knew that he was asking more than if I was ready for bed. He was asking if I was ready to say good-bye to the perfect day we had just had, ready to face whatever life had in store for us.

"So ready," I confirmed with a smile as I took his hand.

**A/N:** This is the end of the road for these two, at least for now. Thank you so much to everyone who has read, reviewed, and/or alerted. Every email that I got letting me know that someone had reviewed the story, or put me on alert made me smile like a fool. I hope you've all enjoy this as much as I have.

Ultimately, this story is a love letter of sorts to **AccioBourbon**, **Minerva_May_I**, and **TheHeartofLife**. They begged me to write it, and **Accio** and **Minerva** held my hand the whole way through. They beta'd, and pre-read, and stayed up late to let me bounce ideas off of them. There will never be enough ways to thank them. **TheHeartofLife** begged me to write Rosalie, and she's encouraged me the whole way with tweets and emails, and reviews that make me flail and squeal. Without the three of them, there would be no story, and I would spend my nights watching _Criminal Minds_ and talking to my cat. They are the Emmett to my Rosalie, and they are all welcome to get a little handsy with me anytime they want.


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